BHOPAL: After the haat bazaars were allowed to operate following lockdown, crowding of vendors or customers is not so much of a problem as “maskless” faces dotting the markets.
“There is not as much crowd at places like Bittan Market nor there are as many vegetable vendors. Not even half. There is enough space between two vendors and since customers are also less, social distancing is not much of a problem but if you look at the faces of both the vendors and the customers, you get the jitters as people are not wearing masks as everywhere else”, said Prerna Sharma, a teacher.
“Even after the markets started operating following lifting of lockdown, people are still preferring to buy vegetables and such stuff from vendors near their home or those standing in isolation by the roadside. There is not much of crowd in Bittan Market or Kotra Market or markets in BHEL. Vendors are also less in numbers, but mask is a problem. After initial compliance to the mandatory mask rule, people are again roaming around without masks,” said Gyandev Mishra, a resident of Avadhpuri.
President of Bittan Market Sabji Vikreta Mahasangh, Hariom Khatik, however, said that there is enough space between two vendors and they are wearing masks too. As far as customers, they are also wearing masks, many of them two masks.
“Vegetables may be stacked together but there is a gap of at least 8 to 10 feet between vendors. There are 700 vendors in Bittan Market, only 400 of them are selling vegetables/fruits as of now. Crowding is no problem and vendors are not only masks but also keeping a bottle of sanitiser with them”, Khatik said.
To a common complaint that prices of vegetables are only going up even after haat bazars started working, Khatik said “Vegetables are cheap at this stage because it’s not raining. A lot of vegetables are coming to market because it’s not raining. Once rain starts, the prices of vegetables would start climbing up”, he said.
